Billet handling device for rolling mills



C. W. HAWTHORNE.

BILLET Hmmm@ nfvxcf ma Houma mms. APPLICATION FILED IUNEZ. 191?. 1 ,308,986, Patented July 8, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. W. HAWTHORNE.

BILLET HANDLING DEVICE FOR ROLLING MILLS.

APPLICATION FILED Juni 27, w11.

1,308,986. Patented July 8, 1919.

2 SHtETSwSHEET 2.

ml COLUMNA PLANonnAPH col. WASHINGTON, o c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. HAWTHORNE, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MORGAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION 0F MASSACHUSETTS.

BILLET-HANDLING DEVICE FOR ROLLING-MILLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1919.

Continuation in part of application Serial No. 28,317, led May 15, 1915. This application led June 27, 1917. Serial No. 177,360.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. HAW- THORNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at. Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State 0f New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Billet-Handling Devices for Rolling-Mills, of which the following is a specification accompanied by drawings, forming a part of the salue, the present application being a continuation 1n part of my copending application, Serial No. 28,317, filed May l5, 1915.

My present invention relates to b-illet handling devices for rolling mills, and the 0bjects of the invention are to provide for the rapid and easy withdrawal of billets from the furnace and their introduction into the irststand of rolls, without interference from or diliiculty with the coating of scale or oXid formed on the billets during the process of heating; to provide for presenting the billets to the rolls so the scale will be automatically removed by the compression of the rolled metal, and nally to avoid the necessity of using hardened rolls for maintaining the desired dimensions of the rolled metal. These objects, among others, I secure by the construction and arrangement of arts as hereinafter described and illustrat in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure A1 is a central longitudinal sectional viewI of a well known type of a billet heating furnace, and showing a continuous row of billets which are moved by a step-by-step movement to the delivery end of the fur- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the delivery end of the furnace shown in section, and in connection with a plan view of a billet ejecting mechanism.

Fi 3 is a transverse sectional View of the urnace taken on the plane of the side delivery opening, and shown in connection with a side elevation of the billet ejectlng mechanism.

Fig. Lis a transverse sectional View of the trou h for sup orting the billet ejectin bar on te plane o? the broken line 4 4, 1g. 2, said billet ejecting` bar being shown in Fig. 2 as lying flat upon the bottom of the trough.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the plane of the broken line 5-5, Fig. 2, of the trough for supporting the billet ejecting bar, said billet ejecting bar being represented as having been rotated on its longitudinal axis one eighth of a revolution.

Fig. G is a detached View of the inclined plate for protecting the hearth of the furnace and guiding the billet ejecting mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a detached front view of the reducing roll.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in the dilierent views.

In the type of furnace shown in the accompanying drawings, the vertical sides of the billets are held in contact, which protects them from the direct action of the heating medium and prevents the formation of scale on these sides of the billet, while the tops of the billets are subjected `to the direct action of the heating medium, causing an oxid or scale to be formed on the upper surfaces of the billets. The scale so formed increases in amount until the billets as they approach th@ delivery end of the furnace become coated with a heavy accumulation of oxid or scale as indicated by the heavy line a, Fig. 1. In case the billets are pushed directly from the loor or hearth of the furnace into the reducing rolls, the heavy coating of scale `is presented to the surface of the upper roll, and results in impeding the entrance of the billet between the rolls. When the billet has once been entered between the rolls the scale is `driven into the soft mass of the heated billet to the detriment of the rolled product.

The effect of the compression of the scale between the metal and the roll has also an injurious eliect upon the roll itself, to 0bviate which it has been customary to harden the surface of the rolls. The operation of hardening the rolls renders it difiicult to re-turn the roll passes in order to preserve the desired dimensions and to maintain a smooth rolling surface. In other well known types of heating furnaces the billets are supported upon a raised longitudinal track which permlts the access of the heating medium to the under side of the billets, and the formation of scale thereon. In this type of furnace the scale covered sides are presented to the compression surfaces of both the upper and under rolls, and two sides instead of one of the rolled metal become embedded with the scale, aggravatingr the difficulties already pointed out.

.l utilize the fact that two parallel sides of the billet are comparatively free from scale and l avoid the disadvantages already noted incident to the commonly practised method of rolling billets by the introduction of a billet ejecting mechanism which engages the end of the billet farthest from the rolls, and by a quarter turn brings the scale-free sides of the billet against the upper and lower surfaces of the roll passes, while the scale covered Side or sides contacts with the sides of the roll passes, so that bv the compression of the billet a coating of scale will become buckled and will fall oil the billet by its own weight, allowingr the billet to be turned, if desired, between cach succeeding pair of rolls, and the rolling process completed without any interference from the accumulated scale.

Referring to the embodiment of my invention illustrated by Way of example in the accom )anying drawings, 1 denotes a billet heating furnace upon the floor 2 of which are a series of billets 3 lying side by side in the well known manner, with their vertical Walls in contact. The billets are fed forward toward the delivery end of the furnace as each successive billet is introduced by any suitable pushing mechanism, in the present instance by a hydraulic pusher 4.

At .the delivery end of the furnace the billets are fed out by an endwise movement through an aperture 5 in the side wall of the furnace into a stand of reducing rolls (i, .by means of a reciprocating pushing bar 7. Ther bar 7 is moved back and forth by a pair rof revolving pinch rolls 8 and 9 driven by a reversible motor 10. The push bar 7 is rectangular in cross section, and the rolls f8 and 9 bear with sulicient friction upon the upper and lower sides of the push :bar `to givea Ireciprocating motion to the latter. The forward end of the bar 7 is bifurcated, as shown in Fig. 3, theilower jaw ll being ,beveled upon its upper and undersurfacesto facilitate its insertion beneath the end of the billet. The upper prong llZfeng es the upper surfaces of the billet with su cient accuracy to cause the latter to be rotated as the .bar 7 is turned. The advancing end of the bar 7 is slidably held in `,a .framework 13, 13, supported upon a .sprinkler ,pipe 14: carried upon the lower end of a water supply pipe 15, which is :capable `of a `slight swinging movement in Vorder fto `allow a lateral Amovement to be imparted to the.advancin end of the `pushinghar 7 to bring `itin a inement with the billet to be engaged. The pushing bar 7 besides being supported by the frame lll, lil, rests in a trough 16 pivoted at 17 upon a bracket 1S attached to the standard 19. The rear end of the trough 16 is provided on its sides with cheeks 20, 20, which tends to center the pushing bar 7 in the trough 1G, when in its retracted position, and also to cause the swinging movement of the trough in a horizontal plane to be imparted tothe push bar 7. The eXtreme rear end of the trough 16 is also capable of a lateral swinging movement by means of a flexible connection 21 with an overhead support: Said lateral swinging movement is imparted to the trough 16 as desired, by means of a handle 22. As the forked end of the push bar 7 approaches the furnace it is entered through an opening 23 and brought into :Llinement with the end of the billet to be fed forward. To facilitate the engagement of the prong 11 of the push bar with thc under side of the billet, the Hoor or hearth L). is cnt away upon an incline which is protected by a water cooled plate 24, and the end ol' the billet is allowed to project slightly over the highest edge of the water cooled plate 24, so the prong 11 will slide upon the plate and engage the under side of the billet. As the push bar and billet are moved -forwaird by the action of the pinch rolls 8 and 9, the push bar is turned one quarter revolution by providing a twisted section Q5, Fig. 2, in the push bar. The pinoli rolls 8 and 9 therefore, advance the bar 7 against the billet, but they also serve to rotate it one quarter turn as the twisted section 25 approaches the rolls. The rolls in the present instance are provided with two grooves. The billets are fed forward until the advancing billet is brought substantially in alinement with* one or the otheriof the passes inthe rolls. Considerable latitude is, howi-aver,` possible in the manipulation of the billets by 'means of the lateral swinging .movement of the push bar.

I claim, i

1. 11n a billet handling ,device 'lf'orw'rolling mills, a push har having parallel surfaces f.

on opposite sides, a pair of `rotatable pinch rolls yin frictionail contact with the iparalliel i surfaces of said :push bar and means 'for lilotating said rolls to impart a longitudinal movement to said push bar, said push `bar having a quarter twist, whereby saidpush` bar is rotated a quarter turn as it `passes between said inch rolls.

2. In a billet handling device for rolling m'ills,ia push bar having parallel surfacesion opposite sides, a lpair of rotatable rolls in frictional Contact with Vthe parallel surfaces lof said push bar, said puhrlo'ar having .a quartertwist, whereby said `push bar is rotated :a quarterturn as it passes ibelill tween said pinch rolls, and means for rotating said pinch rolls with a reverse motion.

3. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, a push bar provided with a quarter twist and having at one end means for engaging a billet upon its upper and lower sit es only, a pair ot rotatable forwarding rolls in frictional contact with the upper and lower surfaces of said push bar, and means for rotating said rolls to impart a longitudinal movement to said push bar, whereby said push bar is rotated a quarter turn as it passes between said rolls.

4. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, a. heating furnace, means for feeding a row of billets in contact with each other, by a broadside step-by-step movement from one end of the furnace into alinement with a delivery opening in the side wall of the furnace, a pair of reducing rolls opposite said opening, means for pushing the billets by an endwise movement from the furnace into said reducing rolls, and means for imparting to each billet a predetermined rotative movement of ninety degrees between the beginning of its endwise movement and its entrance between said reducing' trolls.

5. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, the combination with a heating furnace having openings in its side Walls, and a feeding mechanism for feeding billets in a continuous row from one end of the furnace to said side openings with their vertical side walls in contact, of a push bar having a bifurcated end adapted to engage the upper and under surfaces only of the end of a billet, means for imparting a reciprocating motion to said push bar to eject the billet from the furnace, and means for imparting a predetermined rotative movement to said push bar after the engagement of the push bar with the billet and before the billet is ejected from the furnace.

F. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, the combination with a heating furnace, of a push bar provided at one end with means for engaging the end of a billet as the latter is supported in the furnace, means for imparting a Longitudinal movement to the push bar to eject a billet from the furnace, means to ii'npart a rotative movement of ninety degrees to the push bar between its engagement with the billet and the end of its longitudinal movement, and means for reversing the movement of the push bar.

7. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, a furnace having opposite openings in its side walls, a support for a row of billets with their vertical sides in contact, a push bar provided with means for engaging a billet, means for moving said bar lengthwise through one of said side openings, an inclined plate beneath the overhanging end ot' the billets for supporting and raising the advancing end of said push bar and directing it into engagement with the end of a billet, and means for rotating said push bar ninety degrees at a predetermined period in its long1tudinal movement.

8. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, the combination with a heating furnace, of a push bar provided at one end with means for engaging the end of a billet as the latter is supported in the furnace, means for imparting a longitudinal movement to the push bar to eject a billet from the furnace, means to impart a rotative movement of ninety degrees to the push bar simultaneous with its longitudinal movement, means for reversing the longitudinal movement of the push bar, and means for applying a cooling medium to the billet engaging end of the push bar at the end of the reverse movement of the push bar.

9. In a billet handling device for rolling mills. a pivotally supported trough to swing in a, horizontal plane, a reciprocating` push bar held in said trough, and cheeks in said trough for centering said bar when in its retracted position.

I0. In a billet handling device for rolling mills, the combination with a heating furnace having opposing openings in its side walls, of a trough pivotally supported at the side of the furnace to swing in a horizontal plane, a push bar held in said trough, means for imparting a longitudinal movenient to said bar in said trough at one end of said trough, means for imparting a rotative movement to said bar ot ninety degrees simultaneous with its longitudinal movement, means for reversing the longitudinal and rotative movements of said bar, said bar moving means com )rising a pair of pinch rolls engaging para lel surfaces of the push bar.

Dated this 23rd day of June 1917.

CHARLES W. HAWTHORNE.

Witnesses:

KARL E. M. CANsLANn, W. G. MoWAT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, Il. C. 

